232 



THE SEA. 



event proved the correctness of his information and the value of his knowledge, for 

 when daylight broke the poor fellows were seen, and rescued from their dangerous 

 situation. 



No part of the south coast formerly required more vigilant guarding than that for 

 many miles on either side of Beachy Head. The coastguard sman had his hands full then ; 

 his lot is better now. "Amongst the most agreeable objects that enliven the shores of 



BRIGHTON. 



our island," writes the Saturday Review, " are the groups of cottages occupied by the coast- 

 guard. Picturesque one can scarcely call them, for the architecture is simple to baldness, 

 and suggestive of Government contracts kept down by close competition, and yet they 

 have generally the picturesqueness of comfortable contrast with surroundings that are 

 often bleak and inhospitable. Dating from the days when our coasts were regularly 

 picketed, and a blockade was methodically established against the enterprise of the free- 

 traders, we come upon them in every variety of situation. Now they are arranged bastion- 

 wise on a commanding eminence, in the suburb of some seaport or watering place, in a 

 snug, compact, little square, with a tall flagstaff in the centre. Again we stumble on 

 them unexpectedly, sheltered in the recess of some ' gap ' or ' chine/ where a little stream 

 comes trickling down to the sands through the deep cleft that time seems to have worn 



